Show them hackers you can't keep a good woman down!

"It's like you've disappeared from cyberspace," he said.

I had such a pleasant surprise on Saturday morning when I heard a ping on my phone. It was a foreign number which I didn't recognize, but I was so happy to learn that it was Rinesh, a friend from Zimbabwe. He, too, received the e-mail titled Trouble from "me". Rinesh and I either communicate via Twitter or Gtalk and after I'd been hacked on Thursday, we didn't know how to get in touch with each other (we're not connected on Facebook) but luckily, I added my phone number at the end of the email I sent out to friends alerting them of the hoax email.

He was so kind and sympathetic about what had happened, and understood what it meant to me - especially since my blog and contacts I'd made from travels around the world were all linked to my primary address - sheetalmakhan@gmail.com

On Friday, I got another surprise phone call from my Twitter friend, Melanie in Cape Town. She was concerned about what had happened and since I was also no longer on Gtalk or Twitter, she called me - thanks to the phone number I added at the bottom of my email.

Last night I e-mailed over 790 people who the hacker had initially e-mailed. I wrote to everyone apologizing for the unnecessary drama that ensued since Thursday.

If any "good" has come from this, it's that I am now re-connected with friends I've lost contact with for many months - some, years. I received mail from all corners of the world - and I hope that my experience will be a warning to others and that everyone will take extra precaution while online.

Like Rinesh said this morning, "Woohoo! Show them hackers you can't keep a good woman down!"